the back. “Trust me, dude. You are going to see so many princesses in your future. You don’t even like them.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“I swear to the sun.” Then I turn to Tray. “Thanks. I owe you.”
“I think I’ll keep that favor for a future cash-in.”
“Whatever.”
Tray opens the vent in the control room and hands me a small flashlight and a small map screen with my path through the passageway lit up in green. “You only have one hour,” he says. “I needed to keep the blackout short enough that it didn’t trigger any backup protocols so we can use this plan tomorrow for the escape. When you get to the vent use the maintenance code to open the access panel. They all have the same code. One hour, Crux.”
“I feel better now,” Jimmy says. “You’ll barely have time to feel her up.”
I roll my eyes at him, then ask Tray, “Where do I exit?”
“Your quarters. It’s on the map. You’re only one level up from Corla, actually. I think you can manage it.”
“All right.” I duck into the vent and start walking. Tray closes the vent cover behind me and then the little bit of light from the control room disappears when I go around a corner.
I flick on the flashlight and follow the map screen.
The passageways are big enough for the maintenance bots to move easily inside them, but not big enough for me to walk upright. So by the time I make to the vent inside Corla’s room, my back is killing me and I’m starting to wonder about my decision to confront her.
There are so many ways this can go wrong. And an equal number of possibilities that this is the right way forward. Funny. I have twenty-one years of future me as a knowledge base, but I’m still no closer to the truth of why this is all happening in the first place.
I stop at the vent and use the code Tray gave me. The access panel slides up and I see… darkness. But as I crouch there, looking into the room, my eyes begin to adjust. I’m inside her closet.
There is a sliver of light leaking through the bottom of the closet door and on the other side I can hear whispering. Frantic whispering.
I creep out of the vent, walk forward, and press my ear against the door.
“I don’t know what to do.” It’s Corla. And it’s funny. Before coming into the spin node for this little time-jumping, reality traversing adventure—I don’t think I would’ve been able to recognize her voice. Twenty-one years is a long time to rely on a memory of a voice.
But I’ve met her so many ways now. I know that’s her speaking.
“You should’ve done it the way I told you.”
But ho-lee fuck. I definitely recognize that one. Veila. Veila is here. I’d forgotten about that. Veila was one of her sisters though, right? Of course she was here in her entourage.
“I know. But I freaked out. He took one look at me, Veila, and he turned his back. It’s like he knew why I was there.”
“He didn’t know. He couldn’t possibly.” This is a new voice that I’m sure I don’t recognize. “I heard Father talking to the Akeelians this afternoon. The governor specifically said that his son wasn’t aware of the ceremony tomorrow. And he wanted it kept that way.”
So there is a ceremony.
OK then. This meeting has to happen.
I open the closet door. None of them immediately see me so I take that moment to study the room. It’s not a standard Wayward Station room. Like… at all. It looks like it was decorated for royalty. A massive round bed with so many blankets the three girls look like they’re sitting in it, instead of on top of it.
Above the bed is a canopy with layers and layers of sheer fabric hanging down. Light fabric that, unfortunately, reminds me of the girl who was leading me through the forest in that bogus sex fantasy.
The lighting is low. Only the baseboards glow with a soft golden-pink hue. So that the whole room looks like something out of a princess myth.
I clear my throat to get their attention.
All three girls look towards me, mouths open in surprise. But none of them scream, or act surprised, or even jump up off the bed to back away.
“Hello,” I say dumbly. “I came to have a word with you, Princess Corla.”
She lifts her chin up, her mouth a flat line. “Good. I think